


Second Place

by Kittenfightclub



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Jim lives because of course he does, M/M, Other, a few jokes, a little bit of internalized jealousy, post 1979, pre road warrior, this is fictional mid-eighties not real mid-eighties. medicine can be as advanced as i want it to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 19:17:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11698182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenfightclub/pseuds/Kittenfightclub
Summary: post the events of Mad Max (1979), Max retrieves his burnt-crispy boyfriend from the hospital, and sets out on a no-questions-asked "roadtrip"





	Second Place

“C’mon Goose, c’mon” God. Did Max think he was already healed or something? You don’t get thrown from a car crash and burnt into charcoal and then rise out of bed perfectly healthy a few days later, you just don’t.

Jim Goose could breathe on his own again, finally, but he wasn’t nearly healed when Max entered the hospital room, crazed, insisting they have to leave, go anywhere else. He lost the enthusiasm and intensity later, but now, he seemed almost desperate, and Jim couldn’t resist that. So, of course, Jim went with him regardless of his health.  
Something had happened, something big had happened, and Jim could tell they had no more reason left to stay.

He wasn’t supposed to leave, not for at least another few weeks, but Jim rarely followed rules to the letter anyways. Maybe he could convince Max to get him some painkillers at least, for all the trouble he put him through.

 

It hurt as Max helped him to his feet- he fell immediately, so Max lifted him in his arms instead. Jim would have laughed had he been able to do much more than rasp and cough. He would have laughed and given a particularly goofy grin and said “gosh Maxie, you’re a hunk!”, and swooned until Max couldn’t help but crack a smile.  
Jim got the feeling that there wouldn’t be as many jokes now; he wondered if Max would still smile for him… sometimes at least, he hoped.

More than that, as he was lifted into the passenger seat of the Pursuit Special -so recently perfect, now showing signs of wear, bruises in hard metal, masked under its colorful facade- Goose wondered where Jessie was. Why had Max come for him, and not her? It could only be a bad thing, one horrible reason that he did not even want to consider. Max had always been a serious person, capable, vengeful.

Jim took a few particularly deep breaths and mustered up the tolerance to rasp out a few words, “did ya-”. He was forced to lean forward, coughing, as the car sprang to life, jolting forward. He hoped that those few words would be enough, that Max could fill in the blanks.

“Yeah.”

Jim gave a questioning look.

“I killed them.” Oh. That was blunt. Jim had been asking “did you quit?” or maybe even “did you change your mind?” (“about me” being left unsaid), but “did you kill them?” he supposed, answered every question at once.

So, that was that. Jim understood why they could never come back, and though he didn’t enjoy the thought, there was nothing to do about it. He was all that Max had now, and Max was all that he’d ever had. Jessie was gone; Jim didn’t want details, not yet anyways.  
Max was focused on their great escape, and Jim was focused on how simple everything had been. He wondered if it would ever settle down again.

He felt stupid for trying so hard to prevent Max from leaving the force. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t have seen each other- Jim had stayed with Max and Jessie so much that he practically lived there...  
He had been scared of falling into second place, not being there as well or as often as Jessie could. Now he was the only one, number one. The car, a selfish bribe, made him angry at himself, but there was nothing to do.

They were on their own now- Max, Jim, and... on the open road. Under different circumstances, it would have been all he ever wanted.


End file.
